Famous Footwear Features Gay Dads At Dinner Time In New Commercial

A new ad from Famous Footwear features two gay dads and their children sharing dinner time without electronics at the table.

One dad passes around a basket collecting everyone's phones, although the daughter does try to hand on to her tablet.

The message being that for the family to reconnect, we need to disconnect every now and then.

I agree.

Nice that the dads are easy on the eyes, too.  Just saying...

Matt Baume Asks "Do All Kids Need a Mother and Father?"

From Matt Baume: "You hear the claim all the time from anti-gay groups: children deserve a mom and a dad. But is it true?

"What does the science ACTUALLY say about same-sex parents?

"How do they compare to straight parents?

"And are they as statistically likely to have embarrassing taste in music?"

Costa Rican Father's Day Commercial Features Gay Couple

Aw, this is super-sweet. And just in time for Father's Day.

From Tico Times:

The commercial, “Families in all their forms,” focuses on a father and his son opening a bag of Pozuelo-brand “Familia” cookies.

As the dad explains that there are different kinds of families, the commercial follows an older couple without children – a gay couple – and a stay-at-home dad. The commercial concludes with the words, “When there’s love, there’s family.”

Ana Isabel Sanz, regional marketing director for Pozuelo, told the daily La Nación that the company was not looking to challenge the traditional idea of the family. Instead, Sanz said that the company wanted their publicity to reflect the new kinds of families in Costa Rica, 60 percent of which don’t fit the old father-mother-kid mold.

Watch below:

(h/t JMG)

Dolce & Gabbana Backtrack On LGBT Family Criticism

Fashion designers backtracked today on their recent comments in the Italian magazine Panorama, where they were critical of same-sex couples raising children.

The two designers were together romantically for 23 years and broke up in 2005. Their comments included their opinion that children born through IVF are "children of chemistry, synthetic children. Uteruses for rent, semen chosen from a catalog."

“I am gay, I cannot have a child. I guess you cannot have everything in life," Dolce added. "Life has a natural course, some things cannot be changed. One is the family.”

The comment drew sharp criticism from major celebs around the world including Ricky Martin, Elton John and Martina Navratilova.

.@dolcegabbana ur voices R 2powerfull 2B spreading so much h8 http://t.co/30Oe2hcxNt Wake up,Its 2015 Luv urselves guys #boycottdolcegabbana
— Ricky Martin (@ricky_martin) March 15, 2015

On Sunday, Gabbana issued a statement saying "it was never our intention to judge other people's choices. We do believe in freedom and love."

Dolce said his comments about family were based on his personal childhood growing up in a traditional Sicilian family "made up of a mother, a father and children. I am very well aware of the fact that there are other types of families and they are as legitimate as the one I've known."

Dolce added that his personal views were not a judgement of "other people's choices."

(source)

Freedom To Marry: Meet Jessica and Chi From Alabama

While 32 states in the US enjoy marriage equality, there are still many LGBT families who do not have the same protections and benefits of marriage as heterosexual couples.

Jessica and Chi and their daughter Nailah from Alabama share why marriage matters to their family.

From Freedom To Marry.

Target ad features LGBT family - "Made To Matter"

New Target ad for their "Made To Matter" line features two gay dads making art with their child.

Sweet!

Chevrolet includes LGBT families in new commercials/campaign "#TheNew"

Chevrolet is set to launch a new campaign of eight commercials defined by the them "#TheNew."  Two of the spots feature LGBT families as part of the diversity in today's American life.

This Chevrolet commercial, set to air during the opening ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics, features a same-sex wedding in Cape Cod:

"The New Us" commercial from Chevrolet features several shots of same-sex families:

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel orders "rogue" states to follow federal guidelines and treat gay & lesbian military equally

While speaking at the Anti-Defamation League on Thursday night, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel addressed the rogue states which are refusing to issue spousal benefits at their National Guard facilities, saying their actions are wrong, hurt the military, and further prejudice.

South Carolina, Texas, Indiana, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and West Virginia are the states that are not in compliance with the Pentagon orders.

Here are Hagel's remarks, via the White House:

When the Supreme Court issued its decision on the Defense of Marriage Act this summer, the Department of Defense immediately began working on providing the same benefits to all eligible spouses, regardless of sexual orientation. We did it because everyone who serves our country in uniform, everyone in this country, should receive all the benefits they deserve, and they've earned, and in accordance with the law. Everyone's rights must be protected.

This means that all spouses of service members are entitled to DoD ID cards, and the benefits that come with them. But several states today are refusing to issue these IDs to same-sex spouses at National Guard facilities. Not only does this violate the states' obligations under federal law, but their actions have created hardship and inequality by forcing couples to travel long distances to federal military bases to obtain the ID cards they're entitled to.

This is wrong. It causes division among our ranks, and it furthers prejudice, which DoD has fought to extinguish, as has the ADL.

Today, I directed the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Frank Grass, to take immediate action to remedy this situation. At my direction, he will meet with the Adjutants General from the states where these ID cards are being declined and denied. The Adjutants General will be expected to comply with both lawful direction and DoD policy, in line with the practices of 45 other states and jurisdictions.

Whether they are responding to natural disasters here at home, in their states, or fighting in Afghanistan, our National Guardsmen all wear the uniform of the United States of America. They are serving this country. They – and their families – are entitled to all the benefits and respect accorded to all of our military men and women.

(via Towleroad)

Mississippi tops states with most same-sex couples raising children

Graphic by Memeographs

Surprising new data culled from the US Census by The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law today about same-sex couples who have children.

Mississippi is the US state with the highest percentage of same-sex couples raising children at 26 percent.  Salt Lake City is the top metro area over 1 million at 26%.

Below is a list of the top ten metro areas above and below 1 million:

More at the Williams Institute website.